Restoring Mental Health in India

Sébastia, Brigitte (Hrsg.):
Restoring Mental Health in India : Pluralistic Therapies and Concepts / ed. by Brigitte Sébastia. - New Delhi : Oxford University Press, 2009. - viii, 318 S.
ISBN 978-0-19-569875-6
Rs. 795,00
US$ 36,05 (D.K. Agencies)

Beschreibung
Mental health remains a relatively underexplored area in India. Taking a multi-pronged approach, this volume addresses the gap in indigenous knowledge by exploring intersections between Indian and western understandings of the subject.
   Divided into three sections, the essays by experts in the field explore three distinct kinds of remedies. The first section deals with systematized ancient Indian therapies, including siddha, ayurveda, and yoga, for problems ranging from severe disorder to common mental depression. The second section, on folk or faith-based healing, discusses the therapeutic role of religious figures and icons. Taking a historical approach, the third section focuses on psychiatry in India. It examines Girindrasekhar Bose’s adaptation of Western methods, and includes the establishment of NIMHANS as a pilot institute of mental health.
   An important consensus emerges through the diverse points of view expressed by the contributors. It says that any coherent approach to mental health in India must take into account the holistic environment. This includes religion, policy, and common people’s understanding of mental illness and wellness. [Verlagsinformation]

Inhalt
Transliteration of Sanskrit/Hindi and Tamil Scripts
Introduction
PART I: RESTORING MENTAL HEALTH WITH CODIFIED INDIAN MEDICINES
1. O. Somasundaram: Medical Literate and Cultural approaches to mental Disorders in Tamil Nadu. 27
2. Nadia Giguere: Dosa Satvabalam Genes and Puja: a God for everything. 48
3. C. Kumar Babu: The Relevance of Yoga and Meditation in the Management of Common Mental Disorders. 71
PART II: RESORTING MENTAL HEALTH WITH FOLK THERAPY
4. Pilar Galiana Abal: When God Heals... Can Darsan be a therapy? 97
5. Marine Carrin: Women's Agency: Recasting distress in two therapeutic cults of India. 125
6. Florence Halder: Mythologizing Distress Possession and Therapy in Balaji Mehendipur (Rajasthan). 155
7. Brigitte Sébastia: The Last Resort: why patients with severe mental disorders go to therapeutic shrines in India. 184
PART III: RESORTING MENTAL HEALTH WITH PSYCHIATRY
8. Pratima Murthy and Sanjeev Jain: Diagnosis and Treatment approaches at the asylum in Bangalore. 213
9. Jean Nimylowycz: Symbolic efficacy in the therapeutic theatre: Girindrasekhar Bose's re-elaboration of the psychoanalytical corpus. 234
10. Renu Addlakha: Gender Blind or Gender Biased? Culture, family and patriarchy in Indian psychiatry. 285
Afterword
Index

Herausgeberin
BRIGITTE SÉBASTIA is a researcher in Social Anthropology at the French Institute of Pondicherry. She is also an associate member of LISST, Centre d’Anthropologie Sociale, Université Toulouse-Le Mirail, Toulouse, and of the Centre d’Études de l'Inde et de l'Asie du Sud, Paris. Profile page.

Quellen: Oxford University Press (India); Institut Français de Pondichéry; D.K. Agencies; WorldCat; Vedams Books.